The 2014 SME Assembly begins next week (1-3 October, Naples) and the full conference programme is now available. Hosted in partnership with the Italian Presidency, the Assembly, which is the main European SME Week event, will feature speakers from the Italian Government, the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions, academia and the private sector. Key speakers include: the Italian Minister for Economic Development, Federica Guidi and Member of the European Commission for Entrepreneurship & Industry, Ferdinanco Nelli Feroci, as well as Daniel Calleja, EU SME Envoy and Director General, DG Enterprise and Industry and Anthony L. Gardner, US Ambassador to the EU; the Assembly will be opened formally on 2 October in the presence of H.E. Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Republic of Italy.

Including the
launch of the European Entrepreneurial Region Award 2016

Michel Lebrun, President,
Committee of the Regions

Thursday, 2nd October
2014

StazioneMarittima

09:00

Lobby

Registration

Due to security
restrictions in relation to the presence of H.E. The President of the
Republic of Italy, all attendees must arrive in time and wear their name
badges at all times.

DE, EN, FR,

IT, ES

10:00 – 11:00

Galatea Room

Opening
ceremony of the 2014 SME Assembly in the presence of

H.E. Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Republic of Italy

Welcome
from Antonio Polito,
Assembly Chair

Introduction
by Daniel Calleja,

EU SME Envoy and Director General, DG Enterprise & Industry

Welcome message from José Manuel Barroso

President of the European Commission

Keynote
Speech by Federica Guidi,

Italian Minister for Economic Development

Keynote
Speech by Ferdinando NelliFeroci,

Member of the European Commission for Entrepreneurship & Industry

11:00

Galatea Room

The Big Debate

“Thanks to digital technology,

everyone can become a successful entrepreneur”

In favour:

Tine van Heerikhuize, Blink2Blinked,IljaLaurs, GetJar;

Against:Amit Pau, Ariadne Capital, OrlaithCarmody, Mediatraining.ie

DE, EN, FR,

IT, ES

12:30

Lobby

Networking lunch

14:00

Policy
Session 1

Meeting
SME Finance Needs

Panel of experts followed by Q&A

Dione Room

Keynote:

Dario Scannapieco,

Vice President, EIB

Maria Cristina Bertellini, President
SME Committee, Confindustria

Ari Korhonen, VP, EBAN;

Founder, Spin Top Ventures

IljaLaurs, GetJar

Leonardo Rubattu,

Dir. Gen., ICCREA BANCA

Moderator:

Christian Weinberger

(EN)

Policy
Session 2

Business
Dynamics: Start Up; Transfer; Second Chance

Panel of experts followed by Q&A

Calipso Room

Toni Brunello,
Business Transfer Expert Group, Studio Centro Veneto

Luis Iurcovich, CEO, Trasversale

Olivier Khan, BECI

Ahti Kuningas,

SME Envoy, Estonia

Moderator:

Marko Curavić

(IT, EN)

Entrepreneurship Forum

Galatea
Room

Interviews
with entrepreneurs and managers of successful SMEs and startups; testimonials
from entrepreneurs who have benefited from EU enterprise support programmes;
followed by a moderated panel discussion & audience questions

FIRST PANEL:

Alberto Baban, VP
Small Business, Confindustria

Markus Espeter, GloW Energy

Paula Fitzsimons, Going
for Growth

Vincent Fosty, Watify

Tim Lagerpusch, Sugar
Trends

MarekOzana,

Ochi (Eureka)

Pedro de SampaioNunes, Eureka

Vincenzo Schiavo, Eurosportello, EEN Naples

Claudio Cappellini, CNA

SECOND PANEL:

Anna Gullstrand, Fröjd

Isa Maggi, BIC Italia Net

SwetlanaReiche, Lensspirit

Benjamin Suchar, Yoopies

HeleenWillemsen, Babybloom Healthcare

Moderator:

Joanna Drake

(DE, EN, ES, FR, IT)

(14:00 – 16:00)

15:15

Policy
Session 3

Completing the Single Digital Market for
SMEs

Panel of
experts followed by Q&A

Dione
Room

Ben Butters, Eurochambres

Dana Eleftheriadou, DG
ENTR

Sergio Ruiz Sierra,
Pymes.com

Christian Verschueren, Dir. Gen., Eurocommerce

Moderator:

Katarzyna Bałucka-Dębska

(EN)

Policy
Session 4

Growth Through

Responsive Administration

Panel of
experts followed by Q&A

Calipso Room

Chair:

Susannah Simon,

SME Envoy, UK

Keynote:

Giorgio Merletti,

President, Confartigianato

Maarit Nyman, DG ENTR

Alain Deniau,

Heidrick & Struggles

(IT, EN)

16:30

Expo Hall

Networking &
coffee

Meet the
Experts (A)

New Innovation Actors – Design &
Technology in the Interest of Society?

Vanessa Carpenter,

IdemoLab – Delta

Anne DortheJosiassen, Dansk Design Centre

Christian von Scholten, NorthQ

Meet the
Experts (B)

Business Innovation Observatory: Unlocking
the Potential of Business & Societal Innovation;

How to Scale Up

GavrielAvigdor,

InnovaSpA

Cristina Fernandez-Ramos,

DG ENTR

Laurent Frideres,

PwC Luxembourg

Laurent Probst,

PwC Luxembourg

René Wintjes,

VNU Merit

18:00

Galatea Room

European Enterprise Promotion Awards’
Ceremony

Presentation
of the nominees and announcement of the winners

Presented by Gianna Mazzarella, Giovani
Industriali, Confindustria

(IT, EN)

21:00

Networking dinner

at The Excelsior Hotel, Naples

Friday, 3rd October 2014

StazioneMarittima

08:00

Breakfast Briefing –

SBA Factsheets

Briefing for
journalists on the 2014 SBA Factsheets with the EU SME Envoy

Perseide Room

(IT, EN)

EEPA Breakfast

Nominees of the
EEPA awards present and share best practice

Moderator:Thomas Cooney,

EEPA Jury Member

Elettra Room

(EN)

09:00

Galatea Room

Welcome from the
Chair

Antonio Polito

DE, EN, FR,

IT, ES

09:05

Galatea Room

SBA 2.0 Growth Through Enterprise

The EU
SME Envoy, Daniel Calleja,
introduces the themes for the SBA 2.0.GunillaAlmgren,
President of UEAPME and Marta Martí Carrera, BusinessEurope,
test the policies against the realities of doing business.

09:30

Galatea Room

Question Time

An
opportunity for the audience to ask questions of the SME Envoy,

moderated by the Assembly Chair

10:00

Expo Hall

Networking Coffee

10:30

Transatlantic Co-operation:

Benefits for SMEs

Interactive session on the opportunities for European
SMEs to invest in and trade with the US.

Part 1: Driving SME growth in Europe and the US

Galatea Room

Anthony
L. Gardner, US Ambassador to the EU and Daniel Calleja, EU SME Envoy & Director General for
Enterprise & Industry, discuss the policies and practices pursued by the
US and EU to drive enterprise growth; followed by questions from SMEs

Chair:

Antonio Polito

Kim Benson, VP,

Cange International

Daniele Vaccarino,

President, CNA

(DE, EN, ES, FR, IT)

Policy
Session 5

Skills
for Entrepreneurship

Panel of experts followed by Q&A

Dione
Room

Ian Clifford, CEO, You Rock

Livia di Nardo,
Director for Development, JA-YE Europe

EfkaHeder, SEECEL

Sabine Hepperle, SME
Envoy, Germany

Dražen Pros, SME
Envoy, Croatia

Moderator:

Marko Curavić

(IT, EN)

World
Café Session

The
Small Business Act 2.0

A moderated workshop on the priorities for a renewed
SBA.

After an introduction by Joanna Drake, Deputy EU SME Envoy and Director

SME Transfer in Europe: Transeo
– Good Practices from Spain and Finland

Oriol Alba, Centre de Reempresa de
Catalunya, Spain

Jean-Pierre Di
Bartolomeo, Transeo-Belgium

Sakari Oikarinen, Confidentum Ltd & Transeo,
Finland

11:45

Part 2:
TTIP – SME Chapter

Galatea Room

Experts
discuss the potential benefit for SMEs of an EU/US trade agreement; followed
by Q&A

ArnaldoAbruzzini,
Secretary General, Eurochambres

Lori Cooper,

US Department of Trade

Brooke Fishback, Health
Enterprises & US Chamber

Denis Redonnet, EU
Lead Negotiator, SMEs

Christina Sevilla, US
Lead Negotiator, SMEs, TTIP

Elena Stegemann,
Director International, NuStep

Moderator:

Wojciech Sopinski

(DE, EN, ES, FR, IT)

Policy
Session 6

Design
for Growth

Panel of experts followed by Q&A

Dione Room

Neil Gridley, Design
Association, Design Council

Andrew Kilborn,

Managing
Director, Orluna

Jane Oblikas, CEO,

Estonian Design Centre

Marko Sverdlik,
Chairman Proekspert

Moderator:

John Mathers,
CEO,

Design Council

(IT, EN)

SME Envoys Meeting

(upon invitation only)

Perseide Room

(DE, EN, ES, FR, IT)

Meet the
Experts (A)

Early Warning Europe

Peter Bausager

Søren Boutrup

SvendRøge

All: Early Warning, Denmark

13:00

Expo Hall

Networking Lunch

13:30

Expo Hall

Meet the Experts
(A)

Presenting the Commission’s Series of

SBA Guidebooks

Pertti Hermannek, author
of the guidebook on SBA implementation on a regional level

Christian Weinberger, Senior
Advisor on SME Policy, DG ENTR

Meet the Experts
(B)

Business Innovation Observatory: Smart
Factories, Clean Tech and Customer Experience – How to Accelerate the
Uptake of New Innovation Models

Laurent Frideres, NurayUnlu Bohn,

PwC Luxembourg

René Wintjes, VNU
Merit

14:30

The Pitch

Would-be and
start-up entrepreneurs pitch for investment in their company in return for a
stake in the business. The audience decides.

Galatea
Room

Matan Beery, Akvolution

DaanBergers, Qualenica

Tim Lagerpusch, Sugar
Trends

Samuel Lopez, Creiserds

ÅsmundFrengstad, Meshcrafts

Judges:

Elbert Stoof, Get in
the Ring

Ari Korhonen, EBAN

Marie Laenen, Sendabee

Moderated
by:

Joanna Drake

SME Envoys Meeting

(Public)

Perseide &
Agave Rooms

Presentation
by Paraig Hennessy Irish One-Stop-Shop for
licenses

Presentation
by AhtiKuningas
on

e-government in Estonia

DE, EN, FR,

IT, ES

15:45

Conclusions by Costas Andropoulos,
DG Enterprise

16:00

Close of SME
Assembly

Thursday 2nd &
Friday, 3rd October 2014

StazioneMarittima, Naples, Italy

ENTREPRENEUR EXPO

An
annual exhibition and networking opportunity forming the key focus for SME
Week; the Expo will provide a showcase for innovative European start-ups and
SMEs, as well as organisations who support
entrepreneurs and promote them. Exhibitors include:

These sessions will allow delegates to participate in
small interactive sessions with policy experts and practitioners on a wide
variety of topics; these sessions will be held in two distinct seating
areas (A and B) in the Expo Hall

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